Question:

Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow: With most of us, love is possessiveness. Where there is jealousy, envy, it breeds cruelty, it breeds hatred. Love can only exist and flower when there is no hate, no envy, no ambition. Without love, life is like the barren earth, arid, hard, brutal. But the moment there is affection, it is like the earth which blossoms with water, with rain, with beauty. One has to learn all this when one is very young, not when one is old, for then it is too late. Then you become prisoners of society, environment, of husband, wife, office. Find out for yourself if you can behave with affection. Can you go to your class punctually because you feel you do not want to keep people waiting? Can you be punctual for your meals because, again, you do not want to keep people waiting? Can you stop shouting while you are together because there are other people watching you, being with you?

a) "Where there is jealousy, envy, it breeds cruelty, it breeds hatred." What does this statement suggest?

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Trace the cause-and-effect chain the author sets up: possessiveness -> jealousy/envy -> cruelty -> hatred.
Updated On: Sep 24, 2026
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Solution and Explanation

Step 1: Locating the idea in the passage:
The passage opens by describing love that turns possessive as the source of negative feelings.

Final Answer:
The statement suggests that when love becomes possessive, it gives rise to jealousy and envy, and these feelings in turn make a person cruel and hateful instead of loving. Possessive love destroys the very affection it claims to protect.
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